A New Frontier
by FiresofAnarchy
Summary: A collection of one shots featuring various characters from Mass Effect Andromeda.
1. The Dream and The Reality

**A New Frontier**

 **The Dream and The Reality**

 **So I was finally able to play Mass Effect Andromeda over this past weekend and it isn't Mass Effect 2, but I really don't see what all of the outrage was about. It's pretty on par with Fallout 4 and Dragon Age Inquisition in my book and I think a lot of people are just hating on it because it's the cool thing right now. Anyways I've only made it as far as getting Jaal and won't be able to play again until I go home again so no spoilers in the comments. I think Cora and Jaal are my favorite followers and may become my go to team like Cassandra, Dorian, and Sera did in Inquisition. None of the romances are really striking me as of yet, especially not like the Miranda one did in 2 and 3 so we'll see on that front. I was listening to Rain Is Falling by Electric Light Orchestra while writing this. I hope you like it.**

* * *

The dream had been simple. There was the idealistic vision promoted by Jien Garson in all of the vids that they all bought into to one degree or another, but the underlying dream had been the same one that had guided pioneers to new frontiers since the dawn of time. It was a dream of exploration and new beginnings, a dream that the problems that they were leaving behind wouldn't follow them to the place of their new existence. It was a dream of a better existence that had come into constant conflict with the reality of their situation since the moment they woke up in Andromeda.

The reality was that the idealistic visions were nothing more than fantasy at this point, the Golden Worlds weren't very golden anymore, and there were Kett trying to kill them at every turn. This constant threat of conflict had forced them to go back on their dreams of new, peaceful lives and instead trade them in for preparations to go to war. Conflict on a large scale was apparently not something unique to the Milky Way and instead of the new beginning she had pictured having with her brother and father, Sara Ryder found herself fighting the same fight that intelligent life had been fighting with itself for a perpetual eternity.

"The new colony's looking good," Cora said from behind her. "Our first step to really making a life for ourselves here."

"Yeah," she said absentmindedly running her fingers along the barrel of a turret.

"Your people's resilience is commendable," that was Jaal from somewhere even further back.

"Third time's the charm," she said trying to make her voice sound genuine.

"Is something wrong Sara," Cora was too good at reading her sometimes.

"No, no it's nothing," she said regaining some control. "You two check and see if Bradley needs us for anything else; I'll only be a minute."

"Okay," Cora said unbelieving. "Come on cape, let's see what kind of trouble we can get ourselves into."

Sara briefly watched her second in command drag the reluctant Angaran in the direction of Prodromos's mayor. Cora's tone of voice didn't exactly set her mind at ease but she trusted her people enough not to get themselves killed or embarrass the Initiative too bad, at least there wasn't a bar set up yet like there was on the Nexus. After a few moments of watching she turned her gaze away and found herself walking to one of the high cliff edges that surrounded the new outpost and sitting down to look out over the small, bustling community.

When she was a little girl, she would often do this to one varying degree or another at the various towns and communities that she found herself growing up depending on where her father was stationed. She wasn't looking for anything in particular, you could learn a lot from just watching people go about their daily lives, things you couldn't learn talking to them face to face. Scott would always tease her of course and she would of course throw being born first back at him, which always got him to shut up. After she joined the Alliance military herself the habit left her, whether it was from the military training or simply from getting older she wasn't sure. Now though, in this strange, new galaxy, pressured by responsibilities she had never been prepared to have, the action was just as calming as it had been all those years ago.

There was a group of colonists running drills in an open space near the outskirts of town, probably the military personnel that the Initiative had dethawed at her decision upon a more military minded outpost. Dr. Abrams was fighting with one of her assistants and shooing the man out the door on the other side of town. The decision to build a military outpost had been a relatively easy one all things considered. The previous two attempts to settle Eos had failed and if they were going to protect their assets the third time around then there was no room for the Initiative to play games. The Kett wouldn't back down and neither could they. Still a part of her, the part of her that had believed in the dream, couldn't help but mourn Dr. Abrams's plight.

"What are we doing Dad," she found herself asking the air.

"Your father would be proud of everything you've accomplished thus far," SAM's voice rang in her ear.

"SAM, could you do me a favor and not talk until we're back on the ship," she said.

"As you wish," he said politely.

The dream had been that it would be her dad as Pathfinder exploring new worlds and clearing them for colonization, making contact with new alien species. The dream had been that the Nexus would be a bustling base of operations, rivaling the Citadel as a thriving space station. The dream had been that she would have her father and brother by her side as they set foot on new worlds and tried to rebuild their lives individually and together. Instead the reality had her father dead, her brother in a coma, the Nexus barely getting itself off the ground, and her as Pathfinder building military outposts and preparing for war. Eos certainly wasn't the flying rocks and intense lightning storms that Habitat 7 had been, especially after fixing the Remnant tech that controlled the atmosphere, but it wasn't the promised Golden Worlds either.

Her gaze shifted to take in Cora and Jaal standing near the shuttle pad. Her second in command was pointing at the shuttles landing and taking off again and saying something animatedly. She couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face as she saw two members of her crew getting along so well. They really were building something now, a team, a family, a society and maybe they were building a new dream as well. Maybe after the Kett were defeated and multiple outposts were established, maybe after all of the problems that kept cropping up stopped cropping up, she could look back on everything they accomplished and be proud of it for what it was instead of comparing it to the pie in the sky dreams that her father and others like him had put forth back in the Milky Way. She certainly hoped so.

"SAM," she queried.

"We're not back on the ship Sara," he replied.

"Technically you are," she said. "So it's basically the same thing."

"Of course," he said.

"Do you think I'm in over my head," she questioned. "Do you think I'm doing a lousy replacement job for my father?"

"As I said before your father would be proud of everything you've accomplished thus far," he said. "And no I don't, the reason your father chose you as his replacement is becoming clearer and clearer to me every day."

"Oh," she said surprised.

"You're a fighter Sara," he said. "And right now, with the state of things the way they are, a fighter is exactly what the Initiative needs."

"Thank you," she said a smile flashing across her face.

"Glad to be of service," he said.

With that she began making her way back to her ship, her crewmates who were still shuttlegazing. The Andromeda they found themselves in was not the place that the Initiative had initially been designed for. The dreams that Jien Garson and her father had put forward at the Initiative's founding weren't the reality. Maybe though, she could still fulfill her own dreams and the dreams of every colonist now entrusted to her care. Maybe she could still build her own reality. She just hoped she was as up to the task as SAM made it sound.


	2. Flawed Heroes

**A New Frontier**

 **Flawed Heroes**

 **So I got to play the game a little more a few weekends ago and now with my college semester coming to an end I'll probably be able to finish it soon. It's still an awesome game and I still don't understand the hate. This chapter is sort of based on where I'm at in the game right now and how I think my Ryder is handling everything. Also, I feel like this is the kind of relationship Ryder and Cora should have as Pathfinder and second in command that I don't think is fully realized in the game. I was listening to All These Things That I've Done by The Killers while writing this.**

* * *

Jaal and the Angara in general had been more than accommodating to the aliens that had suddenly arrived in their galaxy. Given their history with the Kett, Sara supposed they were lucky that the Angara hadn't seen fit to shoot them on site. It wasn't like the exiles were being particularly friendly neighbors either, seizing Kadara Port from the Kett and turning it into a staging ground for piracy and other various forms of moral greyness. Nevertheless, there was an embassy open on Aya and an Angaran delegation on the Nexus and Jaal himself was ingratiating himself with the Tempest crew, especially Liam. She had thought that she and Jaal had a pretty good working relationship, were maybe even on their way to becoming friends, but that was all in question now.

Sara stood slightly out of sight in the crew quarters and watched Liam and Jaal laughing casually. Previously she would have been inclined to make her presence known, perhaps even joined in, but after everything that happened on Havarl with Akksul she didn't feel welcome. Jaal had told her that he understood her actions, he had been in danger and she had panicked, but also said that he wished she had trusted him and that felt like more of a gut punch than anything she had experienced in Andromeda so far. Jaal had trusted her enough to help him bring his family back and she couldn't trust him enough to know that he knew what he was doing and didn't see himself in any real danger.

Akksul was a threat though and somewhere deep in her subconscious she knew that the shot that she had fired to kill him hadn't just been about protecting Jaal. He had built a cult of personality around himself and it was certain that many Roekaar fighters would leave the fight without him to lead them, but just as many would join an even more radicalized campaign against the alien that had confirmed their worst fears by killing their leader. She hadn't been thinking, her trigger finger moving of its own volition, but that didn't change the fact that instead of removing a threat like she had set out to do when this whole situation with the Roekaar started she had only further solidified their opposition.

More colonists were going to die because of her, the very people she was supposed to protect were in danger because of her actions. And Jaal, she wasn't even sure where she stood with Jaal, but a distance that hadn't been there before had settled between them and she wasn't sure if it would ever go away again. She had saved his brothers and sister and he was grateful for that, had confirmed that he was staying on with the crew, but something wasn't the same and she found herself longing for a do-over of what had happened on Havarl. She moved away from where she had been watching from and left the two men to their own devices.

Without much thought she found herself outside of Cora's door and before she could talk herself out of it she pushed herself to go inside. Cora had been there, seen what happened, and Sara hoped that maybe talking it out with someone who was there would help. The other woman was going through her own pain after what happened with Sarissa on the Asari ark and Sara didn't want to overburden her by bringing her own bullshit onto her shoulders too, but she needed someone and being the sounding board for all of their Pathfinder's frustrations was part of the job of a second in command anyways. They were a team and they couldn't burden the rest of the crew with how inadequate they felt so they had to go to each other.

"Am I like Sarissa," the comment was out of her mouth before she could even think about it.

"What," her second in command said confused. "Of course not."

"Really," she said as she sat down on one of the Bio Lab's storage crates. "I'm not deciding who lives and who dies, however it suits my needs."

"Akksul was a madman Sara," Cora said seemingly reading her mind. "He needed to be stopped."

"Jaal trusted me and I let him down," she said. "The Roekaar are an even more radical threat now and people are going to die because of me."

"People would have died either way," Cora said leaning against the wall across from her. "If you had let Akksul live, even if he didn't end up killing Jaal and us, do you think he would have just laid down and gone into hiding?"

"No," she continued before Sara could answer. "He would have found a new group of Angara, put them under his spell, and continued what he was doing."

"You made the right call," and she said it with so much confidence that Sara almost believed her.

"I don't think things between Jaal and I will ever recover," she said sadly.

"And so what if they don't," Cora said. "Being a good leader doesn't always make you the most popular person, even among your own subordinates."

"What Sarissa did took a cold deliberateness with the full knowledge of what she was doing," she continued. "What you did was a split second decision with no easy answers."

"You should never compare yourself to her," she finished with a sigh. "You're far too kind hearted for that."

"I'm sorry about what happened on the Leusinia," she said even though they had spoken about it before.

"You made the right call there too," Cora said. "Sarissa was too dangerous to remain Pathfinder.

"How's Vederia," she asked.

"Doing well the last time I saw her," Cora said with a smile.

"That's good," she said. "After what happened with Avitus we need all the Pathfinders we can get."

"The Salarian ark is still tethered to the Archon's ship if you want to look for another one," Cora said with a smirk.

"We'll cross that bridge soon enough," she said. "Thank you for the pep talk."

"It's what I'm here for," Cora said.

"I'm here for you too," she found herself saying. "Whenever you need me."

"Of course," Cora said casting her eyes to the floor. "But Leusinia is over and done with, really you made the right call there."

"I used to idealize my father too," she offered anyways. "Maybe our heroes are just destined to let us down in the end."

"Your father died so you could live," Cora said meeting her gaze again. "So you could be here helping everyone now."

"And Sarissa didn't challenge us when we supported Verderia instead," she said. "So the Asari could have a chance in this galaxy without more pointless bloodshed."

"Flawed heroes," Cora said.

"The best we can hope for," she returned.

With that the conversation died down and Sara soon took her leave. Perhaps in her own way she was a flawed hero that Jaal would come to accept. She had never claimed to be perfect and maybe now she could stop trying to be. She could only do the best she was capable of and hope it all worked out in the end. Real life wasn't some fairytale where everything was perfect and easy, real life was a constant trudge through the moral greyness that Kadara Port exemplified. Their foothold in Andromeda was still that, but they were getting ever closer to building a home. She only hoped that it would all be worth it in the end.


	3. More Than Our Blood

**A New Frontier**

 **More Than Our Blood**

 **So I finished the game a few days ago and wow was it amazing. The people who didn't buy it because of a bunch of bandwagon criticism really missed out. And Cora and Jaal did become my go to team like I predicted. Too bad Cora wasn't a romance option for Sara because she was the only romanceable character that gave me the same vibes Miranda did. I tried Suvi and somehow made it to the lock in point with Vetra without even trying but none of it felt right. Anyways this chapter is based on the rumor that Cora is the Illusive Man's daughter which I am partially obsessed with now, I mean it all fits and would be so awesome for a DLC or something. I won't get into my thoughts on Cerberus and the Illusive Man here, but needless to say I think they were ruined in ME3 and continue longing for more of the ME2 versions. I was listening to Jaded by Aerosmith while writing this which is my favorite song of all time. I hope you like this seeing as how I don't think anyone has written it yet.**

* * *

It had been just another mission, back the Pathfinder up while she talked to whatever unsavory individuals decided to come to Andromeda and start experimenting with mind control until Sara made a decision on how to deal with said individuals and they could be on their way again. After the whole situation with Sloane Kelly and Reyes Vidal it should have been a cakewalk in comparison. Then the word Cerberus had come out of their mouths and she had lost the emotional control over herself that she had been maintaining throughout their adventures in Andromeda. Sara probably would have made the right call, she hadn't given her any reason to suggest otherwise but this was something that Cora couldn't just leave to chance.

"I should have known that only Cerberus could have produced a pair of monsters like you," she felt the words slip from her mouth without conscious thought.

The man looked like he wanted to argue with her or simply brush her comment off the way he had the Pathfinder's, but she wouldn't have it, "Don't say another word, you're lucky we haven't just shot you."

"People like you don't deserve the Pathfinder's kindness," she finished giving the two an intimidating look that didn't seem to faze them.

"Cora," Sara chastised from behind her, she had unconsciously gotten up in the scientists' faces during her tirade.

She moved back behind Sara, regaining herself, "This is your show Sara, but if you let these two continue this atrocity I'm shutting it down myself."

"Cerberus doesn't deserve your trust," she continued. "This experiment will only get worse if you let it continue, that's all Cerberus is good for."

"You seem to have a strong opinion about our former employer," the man who had thankfully remained silent up until that point decided to speak up.

"It's the opinion everyone should have," she said unflinchingly turning her gaze back on him.

"If you feel so strongly about this I won't go against you," Sara said reassuringly.

She had felt herself smile slightly at that before quickly schooling her features and turning to watch SAM talk Sara through her options. Unfortunately they couldn't give the three poor victims their minds back but they could at least make the experience enjoyable while they had to endure it. There was also the option of doing nothing or turning the experiment back on the scientists, but thankfully Sara didn't choose either of those. Before they could leave though one of the scientists said something about the experiment being ruined and Cora couldn't stop herself from punching him. After that she trudged back to the Nomad and sat silently until they made their way back to the Tempest. She had been expecting Sara to come and talk with her in the bio lab after they got back, had been preparing for it, so when she saw Sara at her door she decided to speak first.

"I was unprofessional and I undermined you in front of the crew and civilians," she said, hands clasped behind her back, gaze never leaving Sara's eyes. "I'm sorry Pathfinder, it won't happen again."

"Cora that's not what this is about and you know it," Sara said moving to lean against the wall. "So why don't you tell me what this is about."

"Turn the experiment on the scientists, if they've outlived their usefulness you should at least get something out of them at the end," she said. "That's what my father would have said about the situation down there."

"What," Sara said confused.

"Turning the experiment on them would have provided further data on the strength of their control," she offered in clarification. "And as long as you get useful data it doesn't matter what you had to do to get it."

"At least that's how he explained it to me whenever I found out about something like this," she continued. "If he talked to me at all."

"We've talked about your family before Cora," Sara said still confused. "What does that have to do with any of this?"

"I lied to you when we talked before, not completely and not because I don't trust you, because I do Sara, I really do, but lies were told nonetheless," she said. "I'm sorry."

"So from here on out, now that I know Cerberus made their way to Andromeda, no more lies," she continued.

"Cerberus, the organization those two used to be a part of, was my father's creation," she continued. "Those results at all costs directives are the directives my father thrived on."

"That man they described, The Illusive Man, that's my father," she finished. "Not exactly the kind of family legacy one likes to picture in their head, but there it is."

"But you're so," Sara paused thinking.

"Not crazy," Cora supplied. "Well he was never really a father to me in the ways that matter, so it didn't have a chance to rub off."

"He left my mother and I when I was still a baby to pursue some crusade to "advance humanity"," she continued. "My mother died not long after and I grew up ship to ship until the Alliance got a hold of me, you know the rest."

"But my father's not the kind of person to abandon an asset, especially when said asset is a human biotic with his blood and connections to the Alliance and the Asari military," she continued. "So he began contacting me, and once he knows where you are he's a hard man to get away from."

"That's part of why I came here," she said with a sigh. "To get away from all of the bullshit he started for me, but apparently Cerberus found a way to make it to Andromeda."

"We stopped them though," Sara said comfortingly. "You stopped them."

"Those two were just a pair of low level techs that he didn't even want anymore who thought they could be big out here," she said shaking her head. "But if they were able to make it here someone higher up could be here too."

"We need to be on the lookout for more Cerberus operatives Sara," she continued. "Because if they're here they can't be up to anything good."

"I'll keep my eyes peeled Cora," Sara said.

"Good," she said with a sigh of relief.

"We're not just what our blood says we are Cora," Sara said. "You've done well for yourself without losing your morals."

"Yeah, I know," she said smiling.

"You didn't have to punch that guy though," Sara said mock-chastising. "Might produce a bad image for the Initiative on Kadara."

"I, I, I didn't mean to," she stammered. "He just wouldn't shut up."

"Won't happen again," Sara said smiling.

"Yes of course," she said standing up straight. "I'll control myself better next time."

"You're too much sometimes," Sara said.

"So I've been told," she sighed.

"I wouldn't want you any other way," Sara said. "There's no one else I'd rather have by my side."

"Thank you," she said smiling.

She had a place in Andromeda, more of a place than she had ever had in her life. She had a place as Sara's second in command and potential replacement if the worst came to pass again. She had a place as a member of the Tempest crew, shooting jokes with Liam, and Vetra, and Jaal along with everybody else. She had a place as Vederia's teacher so that she would be ready for whatever Andromeda threw at her. And regardless of what her father had managed to sneak into Andromeda with all of his money, power, and resources Cora Harper was going to continue being her own person. She had never needed him in her life before and she wasn't about to start now.


	4. Sacrifice

**A New Frontier**

 **Sacrifice**

 **So, full disclosure that I love stories where one character finds out that they're the parent of another character and has to deal with that fallout. Still, I never thought I would become as into this theory as I have. Writing this chapter actually got me really thinking about what futuristic DNA tests would be like. I still have ideas about this that I may write in the future, but I also want to write some other stuff, especially since the series is now on ice and we may not get any DLC or follow up games, so we'll see. How this was the game that made everyone hate the Mass Effect series and ME3 wasn't I'll never understand. Anyways, I was listening to All Apologies by Nirvana while writing this and I hope you like this look into the Illusive Man's head.**

* * *

First contact, more than twenty years removed the number of people around with experience in both the world that came before and the world that came after was starting to dwindle. Jack Harper was one of those few who remained though he had little use for his birthname anymore, if people knew the man behind the façade they wouldn't fear him as much as they did the Illusive Man and might get ideas of taking him down. Cerberus was his creation, but an organization such as what Cerberus had become always gave opportunities for other ambitious individuals to seek their own power. But Jack Harper was as much a part of him as the Illusive Man was and sometimes he could still learn a lot from the man he had been before. Now, as he read through the report one of his top operatives had handed him, was turning out to be one of those times.

"You're sure this information is correct," he asked.

"Ran it through the system fourteen times," the operative replied running a nervous hand through his dark, cropped hair. "She's your daughter sir."

"And my daughter," that word still felt weird to think about again. "She's joining the Alliance."

"As best we can tell the Alliance found her hitchhiking her way on a civilian freighter and took her into custody after pulling up her file and realizing her extensive criminal history," the operative said. "But she's a powerful biotic sir, so they gave her a choice, the Alliance or prison, and it seems she took the pragmatic route."

"Keep someone on her to track her progress," he said. "If she gets as fed up with the Alliance as I did then we need Cerberus there to show her an alternative."

"Of course sir," the operative said. "Anything else?"

He thought about just dismissing the man and being done with it but in a moment of weakness asked, "What's her name?"

"Cora," the operative said. "Cora Harper."

So she had kept the name he had given her up to and including Harper, that revelation brought forth a strange mix of emotions he wasn't comfortable dealing with while his operative was still in the room.

"That'll be all," he said and shooed the man away.

He sat back in his chair and lit up a cigarette, taking a drag almost immediately. His daughter was joining the Alliance, his daughter was a biotic, his daughter existed and he wasn't sure what to think about any of it. Logically he had known that she could still be out there in theory, it was a big galaxy after all, but even with his vast resources it hadn't seemed possible that he would ever run into her. But now here she was, the daughter he had left behind, worming her way back into his life without even realizing it and if she got fed up with the Alliance and his operatives managed to get her to join Cerberus she would be in it even more. And if not, if the Alliance managed to keep her around, she was still a unique, potential asset that he would need to keep an eye on.

He supposed a normal person would be happy to have their long lost daughter back in their life again in however small a way, but a normal person wouldn't have left her and her mother behind in the first place. It hadn't been his intention at first of course, when he left his life on Earth to join the fight against the alien occupation that had finally made its way out of science fiction and into reality. He knew that there was a possibility that he could be killed and never see them again, but that would have been in defense of them and defense of the species. He had expected to return to them when the fighting was over, but then everything with Desolas and Saren and the artifact had happened and he had had to make a choice.

He could have returned to his family and the life he had had before, but in light of what he had learned he just couldn't allow humanity to go in unprepared like they did at Shanxi. There were dark times ahead and he was going to be the one to lead humanity through them. He subsequently became the Illusive Man and formed Cerberus from nothing. There were times he thought about the two people he left behind and the life he could have had with them, broken as he was, but losing that was a sacrifice he had needed to make. The fact that Cora was hitchhiking her way across the galaxy probably meant that her mother was already dead, something that seemed to happen to people he loved at an increased pace. Maybe if he kept an eye on Cora through his operatives he could prevent her from suffering the same fate.

Part of him still wondered what kind of father he would have been. That was now joined by the question of what Cora would be now had he been around. Would she still have an extensive criminal record or would they have maintained a quiet life? Would her mother still be alive? Would she still be joining the Alliance? Perhaps by not being around he had saved her from having to suffer the potential of him turning into his own father. Perhaps not having a father at all was better than feeling like a constant disappointment every time he looked at you. It was safe to say that both he and Cora were doing better for themselves than his tyrant of a father could have ever hoped to be. That was something at least.

No, he couldn't let himself get too attached just because she happened to have his blood flowing through her veins. She was an asset, an important one with a lot of potential, but an asset nonetheless. He would keep an eye on her and see how her excursion with the Alliance panned out. And if what followed turned out to involve having her join Cerberus and being even closer to him than she was now then he would deal with that when the time came. Having a reminder around of the life he could have had would be another sacrifice he'd have to make in order to best protect humanity. Jack Harper had taught him that sacrifices, no matter how large and difficult to make they may seem, were necessary in order to accomplish all that he wanted to for humanity.

In ancient Greek mythology Cerberus was the three-headed dog that guarded the underworld. That's what he was, an unwavering figure standing between humanity and the potential Hell that first contact had unleashed all those years ago. The Turians may have been the first to underestimate humanity, to underestimate him, but they wouldn't be the last. He and Cerberus needed to be there to fight for humanity's rightful place in this galactic community it now found itself in. He just hoped that however she fit into it all, whatever role she had to play in humanity's future, that his daughter's destiny was one at his side and not in opposition to him.


	5. Opportunity

**A New Frontier**

 **Opportunity**

 **So it's been a while since I wrote for this fandom or played the game or even thought about playing the game, but this Illusive Man-Cora connection hasn't left me alone and since we probably aren't getting any DLC or any substantial continuation at all I'm inclined to continue to believe it. Full disclosure that the Mass Effect series is really special to me and the original game along with Elder Scrolls IV was the game that got me into RPGs and I hate seeing the franchise being treated the way it is. Granted I still think ME3 was worse than Andromeda in a lot of ways and that people give it more of a pass because it has Shepard in it but that's beside the point. I just wish Bioware would stop drinking the EA Kool Aid and focus on making a good game instead of this Destiny rip off crap they're working on. Either way here's me fleshing out my headcanon Cora backstory. I was listening to A Place We Set Afire by Yellowcard while writing this. I hope you like it.**

* * *

Cora Harper stood alone on the bridge of the Tempest, hands clasped behind her back and eyes closed, just taking in the sound of the ship's drive core as it moved through space. Growing up ship to ship had given her a certain appreciation for the sounds that accompanied a ship cutting through the vastness of space. When the ship you were on was a civilian freighter barely holding together instead of a highly advanced military vessel that could be taken to port and retrofitted anytime it was convenient, a smooth cadence emanating from the drive core meant safety and survival. In the case of some of her less than reputable residences growing up it also meant that you could still be one step ahead of the Alliance or Council or whatever government authority was after you until you made it back to the safety of the Terminus Systems.

That rebellious, young girl that she was back then, the one who had lost both of her parents as a child and only knew a life that was constantly on the move could have scarcely dreamed up a life such as the one she had now. Moving from one ship to another whenever it was most convenient didn't give one much of a chance to make friends or build a particular sense of home. Back then she had been fine with that, she had made it fine on her own that far and she was confident in her ability to make it on her own for the foreseeable future. A quick cutoff in the sound coming from another ship's drive core and the blazing siren of an alarm cut that plan off at its knees and thrust her onto the path that would lead her to the bridge of the Tempest.

She had been hitchhiking on a freighter whose crew was involved in several activities that weren't necessarily above board in Council space or Alliance territory. She had no qualms about that, as long as whoever was in charge was letting her stay on and kept out of her business then she was obliged to keep out of theirs. There was money in operating on the morally grey fringes of society and if you were good and had a decent amount of luck it was very easy to skirt those lines right under the authorities' noses. She wasn't above taking part in certain aspects of those activities if the mood struck her but as it stood on that day she was just a passenger in the wrong place at the wrong time. The ship had been infiltrated by an Alliance operative and was subsequently boarded in order to bring the crew to "justice". She just happened to get caught up in the crossfire.

"Cora Harper," the way the Alliance officer looking through her files said her name almost made it sound like an insult. "You've got quite the resume."

"A girls gotta do what she has to to survive," she responded.

"That was a lot of Element Zero you all were trying to smuggle across the border," he said. "Anything you want to tell me about that?"

"No," she said stoically. "I wasn't in on the take for this one."

"A smuggler like you had to have at least some idea about what was going on," he said ignoring her comment.

"Like I said I wasn't in on the take for this one," she repeated. "This isn't exactly the kind of thing you get overly nosy about if you know what's good for you."

"And yet reports tell me that you were only subdued in the aftermath of a biotic showdown where several of the Alliance personnel sent to secure your ship were injured," he said matter of factly.

"No one wants to be arrested," she said. "Especially when they haven't done anything wrong."

At his look she added, "This time."

"Nevertheless that still constitutes assault which given your record is enough for immediate arrest here and now," he said getting up from the desk he had been sitting at up to that point.

"What," she said backing away from him. "You can't do that."

"You aren't exactly in a position to tell me what I can and can't do Miss Harper," he said advancing several steps. "So why don't you just make this easy on yourself and come quietly."

She readied a biotic attack, fully prepared to blast officer asshole into Oblivion and try and make a break for it, but pulled up short when a new voice sounded in the room.

"Just what do you think you're doing here Lieutenant," a voice which commanded authority said from the doorway.

"Nothing Admiral," the man in front of her immediately wilted. "Just trying to get to the bottom of the Element Zero smuggling ring we just thwarted, sir."

"Yes I'm sure you were," the Admiral said. "Why don't you report back to Commander Perry before you get yourself court martialed."

"Of course sir," the Lieutenant turned around and saluted. "Right away."

Once the Lieutenant had made his exit the Admiral turned to her and said, "Don't worry about Lieutenant Combs, he won't be holding a meaningful post again."

"Admiral Steven Hackett," he continued extending his hand. "I see they weren't lying about your abilities."

"I'm a biotic if that's what you mean," she said hesitantly shaking his hand.

"Not just any biotic," he said. "But we'll get to that in due time."

"I'm here to offer you an opportunity," he continued.

"Whatever you're offering I don't want it," she said. "I've done just fine on my own without the Alliance holding my hand."

"Well Miss Harper you don't really have much of a choice," he said sounding slightly annoyed.

"Despite Lieutenant Combs' rampant idiocy when it comes to Alliance decorum and basic human decency he was right about one thing, we have enough to arrest you right here and now," he continued. "So it's either you take my opportunity for what it is or you throw your life away before it even begins, the choice is yours."

She had always considered herself a pragmatic woman, so when presented with those options the way he presented them it ended up being an easy decision.

"What is this opportunity," she said.

"A place to hone your abilities," he said. "A roof over your head."

"How would you like to join the Alliance military," he continued.

The Alliance military, if someone had told her before that day that she would be joining the very group that she had been on the run from in one way or another her entire life she would have laughed in their face. But she was pragmatic and she didn't have many options at that point so she accepted. A place to hone her abilities and a roof over her head were certainly better than more officers like Lieutenant Combs and a cold cell. They shook on it and within the next few days she was off to an Alliance facility for basic training. Within a few years she was transferred to the Citadel Council's Valkyrie Program and eventually to Talein's Daughter's on Thessia with Admiral Hackett watching the entire way. She took to the military life easier than she thought she would and before long she came to relish in the routine of it all.

Coming back to the present she found the ship still relatively silent. The others would be waking up soon and it would be back to the business at hand, back to taking the fight to the Archon. No doubt Sara already had some daring idea about what their next move would be and she'd have to back her up whatever it was. She would have to fall back into her role of second in command and leave the reminiscence on the girl she used to be behind. That day didn't end all her problems for her, in some ways it even created new ones. Her entrance into the Alliance military was what her father later claimed brought her to his attention. If she had never been detained that day she may have never had to deal with Cerberus or the Illusive Man or the fact that the Illusive Man was her father and all the struggles those three things brought into her life, but she couldn't know that for sure. All she knew was that by the time he did find her she was no longer that angry little girl stowing away on a freighter, she was a trained soldier.

Without her training he may have been able to sway her to his cause. Cerberus, despite its flaws, was still better than nothing and she had no doubt that she would have taken his eventual offer to join just like she did the Alliance's had the Alliance not gotten there first. Maybe in that version of events she and her father could have even reconnected for real instead of the intermittent, heated exchanges over her personal comm that they did have. Maybe she would have never ended up joining the Andromeda Initiative and she wouldn't be standing on the Tempest's bridge right now. She couldn't be sure what either of those possibilities might have held for her, but she was sure where the decision to join the Alliance led her. Opening her eyes and looking around the bridge, the ship's drive core was still running smoothly and the distinctive shouts from inside Peebee's pod told her that at least one other person was finally awake. She was here, she was in Andromeda, and there was nothing he could do about it now. She was right where she needed to be.


	6. Give Or Take 600 Years

**A New Frontier**

 **Give Or Take 600 Years**

 **Man it has been a while. Believe it or not I've wanted to write this chapter or a chapter like this since right after I wrote the last one. I started writing and erased it so many times I've lost count. But N7 Day provided me with some inspiration and here we are. I'm not sure if it's entirely what I wanted to get out of it but it's finished and that's more than I can say for a lot of my other attempts. I don't know how many people are even interested in Andromeda anymore at this point. Bioware certainly isn't and that's a shame. I don't know if I've ever actively not wanted to buy a game as much as I don't want to buy Anthem. Either way after I finish Red Dead Redemption 2 and mop up some stuff in Borderlands 2 I'm contemplating playing through all four games again. Maybe then I'll even have something for the original trilogy to put out there. I do love Shepard/Miranda and Tali/Garrus a lot and I'd also like to try my hand at writing Kasumi. I guess we'll see. I was listening to Monument by A Day To Remember while writing this. I hope you like it.**

* * *

There were certain things expected of a first officer on a starship like the Tempest. There were certain things expected of a second to a Pathfinder in the Andromeda Initiative. These positions overlapped in some respects, but in an ideal situation would not be filled by one person. After reality's punch to the face on Habitat 7 they were nowhere near an ideal situation and both roles had practically fallen into Cora's lap, though one with certainly more elation than the other. Initially she still thought herself better suited for the role of Pathfinder than Sara. She was a seasoned military officer with years of experience and had had a trial run with one of SAM's prototypes. Sara wasn't a raw recruit by any means and it stood to reason that she too had experience with SAM, being Alec's daughter and all, but she was still so young and full of idealism. She wasn't Liam but the doubts had lingered in the back of Cora's mind all the same, as much as she hated to admit it even to herself.

Sara had more than proven herself capable in the time since those early days. They were taking the fight to the Kett and while it was still too early to say whether or not they were winning they certainly weren't losing anymore. They had several footholds throughout the Helius Cluster now where the Andromeda Initiative's true purpose could finally begin taking place. They even had burgeoning local allies in the Angara. All in all Sara had accomplished in a relatively short period of time what no one else, not even herself, could have. She was proud to be her second, someone she could vent her frustrations and doubts to without fear of reprimand as well as come to for advice. And Sara gave her all that and more in return. They were a team, the whole crew was a team, and she had no doubt that before too long they'd have the Archon on his heels.

The duties of a first officer on a starship however were far more concentrated. There were no grand scale galactic politics or military conflict to consider in the day to day operations of the Tempest other than how they affected said day to day operations. Resources required to keep the ship flying and the crew happy and healthy had to be acquired from The Nexus, Aya, and the scattered colony worlds that they had established outposts on so knowledge of the political landscape was something that needed to be consistently maintained and updated. Likewise if she wanted to ensure the safest journey through the Helius Cluster that was possible she needed to know the military situation to the best of her abilities. But there weren't any large scale moral or philosophical dilemmas to ponder during every action, just what information was required to give the crew the best environment to do their jobs and keep everyone alive. It was simpler in that way, but offered its own share of challenges.

For one the first officer was the one on the ground so to speak when it came to ship activities. That wasn't to say that Sara wasn't still in charge, but she had enough to think about without worrying about every little problem that came up over the course of an average day. They needed her at her best when the time came to make the truly world-changing decisions. She relished in the meticulous details of day to day ship life and so had no qualms about the work. And despite her awkward at best abilities when it came to most social interactions she also liked how it brought her closer to the crew, even and perhaps especially Sara. It also provided a series of unique challenges for her to solve every day which despite her appreciation for the rigid structure of military life was necessary for her mental health.

It started as a day like any other. An alarm from her personal terminal woke her up at 0500 hours and she proceeded to shower and get dressed with only minor protest. To her knowledge there were no grand scale plans on the horizon, Sara had yet to decide exactly how they were going to handle the situation with the Salarian Ark, though that could always change. She was ready to walk out the door and begin her early morning security walkthrough of the ship to check for any signs of infiltration or structural failure when another alert on her terminal pinged and caught her interest. She didn't get much personal correspondence and so she hesitantly made her way over to see what it was, the thought that it could somehow be a message from her father despite everything lingered in her mind. It wasn't a message at all, not really, just an automated alert reminding her that today was her birthday. She was officially thirty years old give or take 600 years of cryostasis.

Thirty. There had been a time in her life where she had thought that she wouldn't live long enough to ever see such an age. Of course there had been a time in her life where she hadn't even known her exact birth date to begin with. The number before her now was also only her age in regards to Earth years. She had spent the majority of her life on ships floating through space where time was relative and days and nights and weeks and months and years all sort of ran together. Earth was still her origin point as well as humanity's though so it made as much sense to base the number off of that as it possibly could make. She still wasn't completely comfortable with the celebratory concept that came with having a birthday and for a brief moment felt a surge of anxiety at the thought of the crew throwing some sort of surprise party for her but squashed it down as much as she could. The only people with access to her personnel file were Lexi and Sara and she knew neither of them would do that without asking her first.

With that comforting thought she pulled herself together and got started with her day. As she suspected it was a relatively mundane day by their standards. A quick visit to Kadara to further hash things out with Sloane Kelly in the wake of her cementing her hold over Kadara Port was the only real "adventure" as it were and she didn't relish in that one bit. Sloane Kelly was a powerful ally no doubt and she seemed to carry a certain fondness for Sara, but dealing with her reminded her too much of dealing with her father. Reyes Vidal had reminded her of Cerberus agents she had dealt with too so it wasn't like he would have been much better in that regard. It was a short meeting that she didn't have to personally take part in though so she wasn't going to complain. After that brief application of her role as her Pathfinder's second was over she happily thrust herself back into her first officer role until Sara made an announcement that they were changing course and heading for The Nexus.

She liked The Nexus well enough though most of the people there were either far too bureaucratic or far too idealistic for her liking. It was a safe harbor and home port for the Tempest in a portion of space that was still more mystery than home though and that was all she could really ask for. She prepared a priority list of things she needed to get done while they were there and was more than ready to go about implementing it after docking and disembarking, but before she could even move a few steps Sara grabbed her arm and gave her a conspiratory grin that did nothing to set her at ease. Sara pointed at The Vortex and made a drinking motion with her other hand. She tried to give Sara a serious look that told her she wasn't in the mood for games, but the other woman just shrugged and leaned forward to whisper in her ear.

"I know what today is," Sara said gleefully and with that Cora knew where this was going.

"I'm not really one for parties," she said quickly looking around to see if anyone else was within earshot.

"It's not a party," Sara said speaking normally now. "Just me and you."

She liked the sound of that but still said, "I don't know."

"I do," Sara returned her voice to a whisper. "I know who the birthday girl is and I'm going to make sure she gets a celebratory drink on this station even if I have to tie her down to do it."

She shivered at that despite her best efforts and only managed to breath out, "Okay."

"You won't regret it," Sara said already dragging her towards the bar.

The thumping dance music and multitude of people getting progressively more and more inebriated that made up most bars wasn't really her scene, but The Vortex certainly wasn't the worst place she had ever settled down to get drunk.

They were already several drinks in when Sara turned to her and said, "Thirty, you don't look a day over 25."

"With this hair color," she questioned.

"Well yeah of course," Sara said eyeing her hair earnestly. "That isn't old lady white, it's badass chick that could kill you with a soup spoon washed out blonde."

"And that style," she continued. "No way someone's confusing you for a grandmother with all that going on up there."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," she responded taking a sip of her drink. "I met my grandmother once and she had far more than just this going on."

"She was also a rich asshole though so you should probably take that with a grain of salt," she continued.

"I'm sorry," Sara said.

"Don't be," she said. "Like I said she was a rich asshole."

"And if she wasn't a rich asshole maybe I wouldn't be here right now," she continued.

"I guess you're right," Sara said downing a shot quickly.

"We're all an amalgamation of our experiences," she said. "And if you take any of those experiences away you don't end up with the same person."

"I'm proud of who I am," she continued. "And I wouldn't change that for anything."

"Yeah," Sara said solemnly. "Yeah you're right."

"We're not responsible for anything other than who we are and our own actions Sara," she said. "We should never put the actions of others, especially our family, on ourselves."

"Yeah," Sara said downing another shot. "With all that wisdom floating around up there maybe you are older than you look."

"Haha," she said taking a sip of her own drink. "Considering there was a time where I never thought I'd even live this long I'll take it."

"Hopefully we all live to see many more birthdays in this galaxy," Sara said.

"We will," she said confidently. "I have faith in you to see us through to the other side of this."

"We'll have the Archon on the ropes before you know it," she continued.

"He won't like it when we board his ship that's for sure," Sara said smiling slightly.

"That's the spirit," she said. "A few more hits proving to him that we're not simply a fly that can be swatted and he might even tuck his tail between his legs and head home."

"You always know what to say to make me feel better," Sara said. "It's one of the things I admire about you."

"Well," she said slightly flustered. "As your second in command it's part of my job to motivate you."

"You know that's not what I meant," Sara said and by the look in her eyes there was no denying what she meant.

"Sara," she said trying not to let her nervousness show. "That wouldn't be appropriate."

"It doesn't matter what's "appropriate"," Sara said. "I like you and you clearly like me, shouldn't that be enough?"

The thought that it wasn't enough for her parents briefly crossed her mind, but she squashed that down quickly.

"You know in ancient times units where the soldiers were intimately involved with each other were actually some of the most efficient and tactically brilliant to ever exist," Sara interrupted her train of thought.

And no she didn't know that because history was never really her favorite subject. Philosophy and engineering were more her style. History felt too tangible somehow.

"I," she stuttered. "No I didn't know that."

"I still don't know if we should really apply that logic to our situation," she continued. "We aren't just some individual soldiers, we're in charge."

"Look despite your confidence in my abilities we may all be dead tomorrow," Sara said. "And I don't want to die without you knowing how I really feel."

"But if you're not comfortable with it we can just go back to talking about your hair," she continued. "You are the birthday girl after all."

"I do like you too Sara," she admitted. "But I'm not sure if it would be a good idea to cloud our personal and professional relationships like that right now."

"Maybe when all this is over," she continued.

"Yeah," Sara said downing another shot.

"Anyways," she continued after a pause. "I think you could rock purple hair."

The conversation continued mundanely like that for the next couple of hours and by the end of it they were both too drunk to remember much of the earlier deep conversation. The next morning though when her alarm went off at 0500 again it hit her almost as bad as the hangover did. Sara had already been drunk at that point. Maybe she hadn't even really meant what she said. Even she knew that was a lie. And why was she so scared of taking their relationship to the next level? They had been flirting since Sara became Pathfinder, maybe even before that. Deep down she knew it was just her own trust issues rearing their ugly head again just like they had on countless occasions before. Sure there were pragmatic and chain of command reasons why they shouldn't become intimate like she said, but those were just excuses. No the truth was that she was just scared. Scared of what exactly? She wasn't really sure. She just hoped that she figured it out before "When this is all over" rolled around and that Sara would still be interested at that point.

"Best birthday ever," she grumbled. "Woo."

* * *

 **So I pictured Cora's birth year as 2156 in this. It makes sense if we're going with the she's the Illusive Man's daughter theory which I'm going to stick with until the end of time. It's one year before the First Contact War kicks off which is when the Illusive Man left his family to fight and it only makes her two years older than Ashley so it's not like it's that far out of left field in that respect. I thought about making up an exact day but that doesn't really matter here.**


End file.
